Claire_Conant
ServiceNow Employee
Options
- Post History
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark as New
- Mark as Read
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Report Inappropriate Content
2 hours ago
If your install failed in Application Manager, you're likely closer to a fix than it feels. Between the two pre-flight checks and the seven causes below, this article covers the scenarios that account for the majority of failures, each one with a direct path to the right knowledge article. Start with the pre-flight checks, and then work through the causes until you find the one that matches your situation.
Before you start: two checks that catch most failures
Two issues can block installs regardless of the cause. Rule these out before investigating anything specific.
- Accept the terms and conditions in the Store. If Application Manager shows Store Terms Not Accepted or App Terms Not Accepted, any install and update actions stay blocked until they are. Go to the ServiceNow Store, look for a T&C banner on the landing page or the individual application page. Accept the terms and then sync your instance.
- Sync your instance with the Store. If Application Manager isn't reflecting apps or updates you expect to see, the instance may be out of sync. Select Sync Now in Application Manager and confirm that the last sync date updates to the current date. If the sync date doesn't update, start with Cause #1.
1. Application Manager isn't syncing with the Store
After selecting Sync Now, the last sync date doesn't update, and Application Manager isn't pulling current information from the Store. The most common cause is a system property record (sn_appclient.apps_last_sync_time) that ended up in the wrong application scope, typically the Clone Admin Console scope instead of the Scoped App Client application where it belongs. This often happens after a clone. The following knowledge article addresses how to identify and correct the misplaced property.
Zurich and Yokohama patch note: A known issue on certain patch levels can cause Application Manager to stop showing available updates, incorrectly block upgrades, or fail to sync properly after a successful update. If you're experiencing this on Zurich Patch 5 or 6, or Yokohama Patch 10 through 12, upgrading to Zurich Patch 6 HF1 or later (or Yokohama Patch 12 HF1 or later) restores correct app version detection, proper synchronization, and unblocked upgrade paths.
2. App shows Service Provider Blocked
You see the app listed in Application Manager, and it may even show Ready to Install in the ServiceNow Store, but Application Manager shows Service Provider Blocked and won't let you proceed. This behavior is specific to accounts set up as Managed Service Provider (MSP) or Partner-managed accounts on the ServiceNow Store.
The service provider hasn't yet entitled the specific instance for that application in the Store. Even though the app is available at the account level, each instance needs to be individually entitled before the install is allowed. The resolution depends on your role.
If you are the Partner or MSP
- Go to the ServiceNow Store.
- Open the application showing the Service Provider Blocked indicator.
- Select Manage Entitlements.
- Select the required customer instance.
- Enable entitlement for that instance.
- Save changes.
If you are the customer
Contact your Partner or MSP admin and ask them to use Manage Entitlements in the ServiceNow Store to enable your instance for the required application.
Once this is completed, you can then install the app.
3. App shows Approval Required
If installation is blocked with an Approval Required message, this means the app requires vendor approval before it can be installed. For ServiceNow-authored applications, the approval comes from the relevant business unit team.
Go to the ServiceNow Store and select Request Purchase for the application. This submits the approval request to the vendor or the ServiceNow team that owns the application.
Check out the following knowledge article for complete descriptions on Application Manager status indicators.
4. App shows Not Licensed or License Required for Subprod
In this scenario, the app install is blocked with a Not Licensed message (on production instances) or a License Required for Subprod message (on non-production instances).
These messages mean the application requires a valid license that isn't currently associated with your instance. This can happen when:
- The app isn't included in your contract.
- A required dependency isn't licensed.
- The app restricts installation to production instances only (in which case non-production instances show License Required for Subprod even after T&C acceptance and sync).
Go to the application page in the ServiceNow Store and select Request License and then contact your ServiceNow Account Manager for the next steps. If the application is already part of your contract, you can request assistance through the Automation Store on Now Support.
5. Installation or activation fails with a Bad Request (400) error or hangs at 0%
This failure can show up in two ways. The symptoms look different, but they share some of the same underlying causes. The resolution path depends on which one you're seeing.
Getting a Bad Request (400) error when trying to install or update from Application Manager (or from System Definition > Plugins) usually traces back to a post-upgrade state that needs to be cleared on the back end. The following knowledge article walks through the diagnostic steps.
A progress bar that hangs at 0% with the message "Task queued for processing" can often be the result of a mutex lock from a prior activation that's still holding the update queue. The plugin can't start because something else is considered to be in progress. The following knowledge article includes the check for the mutex and the steps to clear it.
6. Apps or plugins are missing after a family upgrade
After an upgrade to a new family release, the app or plugin you expected to see is just gone with no install button, no update button. Nothing visibly has failed; the item simply isn't there.
In this case, the app is usually present on the instance, but Application Manager doesn't show it because of how the app list refreshed (or didn't) during the upgrade. The resolution usually involves syncing your instance. If this approach doesn't resolve it, the issue may be a version mismatch between the app and your current release. The ServiceNow Store shows compatible versions for each app.
7. The Plugin Activation button is unavailable showing "system is currently upgrading"
This message can be accurate, and an upgrade may genuinely be in progress. Sometimes, however, it's a leftover state from a completed upgrade that didn't clean up properly.
Start by checking System Diagnostics > Upgrade Monitor to confirm if an upgrade is in progress, and if so, wait for it to finish.
If no upgrade is running, it's possible that the scheduler workers aren't active on the node. You can verify this at /stats.do. The following knowledge article walks through how to validate both scenarios and confirm the system state. If no upgrade is running and scheduler workers are not active, the resolution for this condition requires engagement with ServiceNow Support.
Where to go from here
Between the pre-flight checks and the seven causes above, most install failures have a path forward in the documentation. Edge cases that don't fit the usual patterns are exactly what that community is good at, and chances are someone there has already worked through something similar.
Upgrades and Patching forum on ServiceNow Community
For the operational side of Application Manager (version compatibility, status indicators, cross-instance visibility, and upgrade planning), see the companion article, What to know beyond the install button in Application Manager.
Quick reference links
